Author: SupremeCmdr

Ziprasidone (Geodon) – Think Bipolar

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Medical News: Ziprasidone Okayed for Bipolar Disorder – in Psychiatry, Bipolar Disorder from MedPage Today

Ziprasidone comes with a long list of precautions and contraindications:

 

* It should not be used in patients with a known history of QT prolongation, recent acute myocardial infarction, or uncompensated heart failure, and should not be used with other QT-prolonging drugs.
* It should also be avoided in elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis, as studies have shown that ziprasidone increases the risk of death in such patients.
* Discontinuation should be considered in patients showing signs of tardive dyskinesia.
* Treatment should be stopped immediately in patients with symptoms of neuroleptic malignant syndrome, which include hyperpyrexia, muscle rigidity, diaphoresis, tachycardia, irregular pulse or blood pressure, cardiac dysrhythmia, and altered mental status.
* Patients and clinicians should be alert for hyperglycemia, rash, seizures, and orthostatic hypotension with ziprasidone.

Drugs and Falls

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Medical News: Three Drug Classes Associated with Falls in the Elderly – in Primary Care, Geriatrics from MedPage Today

More than 30% of people ages 65 years and older experience a fall annually. Falls are associated with more than 40% of nursing home admissions, so research into risk factors “is urgently needed,” according the the researchers.

 

Remote Underwriting With Turkeys – The Fraying Employment Contract

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What employment contract?  This is a scary article and a must-read for managers.

The Fraying Employment Contract – BusinessWeek

As a reminder I’ve titled posts on management “Remote Underwriting With Turkeys” to make these posts easier to find when using the search function.

If you want to look at older posts on management issues, use “turkeys” as the keyword in the search box.

Predictors of SCD Post MI Change With Time

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Predictors of Sudden Cardiac Death Change With Time After Myocardial Infarction: Results From the VALIANT Trial

Results: SCD occurred in 8.6% of patients during 3 years of follow-up. During the initial hospitalization for MI, the strongest predictors of SCD were atrial fibrillation (AF) (hazard ratio [HR], 2.0), prior stroke (HR, 2.0), and smoking (HR, 1.5). In the first 30 days after MI, the strongest predictors of SCD were recurrent MI (HR, 3.5), rehospitalization (HR, 2.5), and coronary artery bypass graft surgery (HR, 2.3). The strongest predictors of SCD from 30 days to 6 months after MI were prior transient ischemic attack (HR, 1.8), prior diabetes (HR, 1.7), and new left bundle branch block (HR, 1.7). From 6 months to 3 years after MI, the strongest predictors of SCD were prior MI (HR, 1.7), recurrent MI (HR, 1.7), and AF (HR, 1.6).